Detroit's massive, abandoned Packard Plant now on county auction block

DETROIT, MI - The long-abandoned former Packard Automobile Plant on Detroit's east side is now for sale on the Wayne County tax foreclosure auction, after a group of investors led by an Illinois developer have so far failed to come up with the nearly $1 million needed to buy the building, according to the Detroit Free Press.

On Friday, Deputy County Treasurer Dave Szymanski said that Evanston-based developer Bill Hults was expected that afternoon to make a wire transfer of the funds needed to take ownership the 40-acre property.

Szymanksi did not respond to calls seeking comment Monday. In an e-mail to the Free Press, he said Hults and co. could still redeem the sprawling, 42-parcel property if they wire the money owed on back taxes to an escrow account.

Hults told the Free Press on Monday that he was still set on acquiring the land, but said that he is navigating “an incredibly complex situation.”

Meanwhile, the 3.5 million-square-foot space sits on the county auction block for a little more than $1 million, including interest. If it fails to sell in the current round - bidding ends Sept. 23 through Sept. 26 - it heads to a second auction in October in which the starting bid on each parcel is just $500. That means the entire property could have a starting bid of a mere $21,000.

Szymanksi told MLive Friday that Hults has been in talks with high-profile, Peruvian developer Fernando Palazuelo.

Palazuelo, based in Lima, has been credited for a number of rehab projects with a Spanish firm called Arte Express. La Republica credits him and Arte Express with putting several architectural gems back into use in the Peruvian capital, not the least of which includes the recent rehabilitation of the International Bank building in Lima’s historic center.

“He brings a very good resume and significant resources to the table,” Szymanski said of Palazuelo.

There was no mention Monday of any possibility of Palazuelo's involvement.

Vacant and in disrepair for about two decades, the Packard Plant has been an iconic part of Detroit’s “ruin porn," in which tourists and others gawk at and take photos of the city's abandoned and blighted buildings. It was designed by Albert Kahn and built in 1903.

The Packard Motor Car Company manufactured luxury vehicles there until 1958. Other businesses had been using the property of storage until the 1990s, when it was left completely vacant. From there, scrappers moved in and gutted what they could, while graffiti artists and others have since used the property as an urban canvas and playground.

David Muller is the business reporter for MLive Media Group in Detroit. Email him at dmuller@mlive.com or follow him on Twitter.